Total crossings are for the 2017 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, 2017.

Trump Wants a Border Wall. See What’s in Place Already.

By SARAH ALMUKHTAR and JOSH WILLIAMS

Scroll to start

The 2,000-mile United States border with Mexico is defined by rugged terrain and the Rio Grande, which act as natural barriers.

Most U.S. border land east of El Paso, Tex., is privately owned. To the west, most of the land is owned by the federal government.

The government has built nearly 700 miles of wall and fencing since 2006, mostly on federal land and where the terrain does not provide a natural barrier.

President Trump wants to build a new wall that could cost $25 billion. Eight prototypes, ranging from 18 to 30 feet high, have been tested near the San Diego border.

But the administration so far has focused on replacing existing barriers with taller structures along several sections of the border.

Some of the pre-existing fencing already is tall — higher than 10 feet — and concentrated near populated areas.

These sections are intended to keep people from trying to cross the border on foot.

Still, people find ways to cut through the fencing or climb over it.

The rest of the fencing lies in areas where the terrain makes it difficult to safely cross the border on foot.

These sections are shorter and built to block vehicles from driving across.

The blimp shown here — like drones, cameras and other surveillance tools — reinforces the physical fencing. Such tools are often repurposed military gear that was used in Afghanistan or Iraq.

And more than 16,000 Border Patrol agents work across nine sectors.

People usually pass through one of 25 official crossings that dot the border.

Most of the hard drugs that are smuggled into the United States come through these crossings — or under them. Hundreds of smuggling tunnels snake under border towns like Nogales, in Arizona.

In part because of increased border security, the number of people caught crossing the border illegally has dropped 82 percent from its peak in 2000.

Sources: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (apprehensions, agents and ports of entry), Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting and OpenStreetMap contributors (fencing), U.S. Geological Survey (federal land).